Beans & LegumesPolling Results: What Preppers are Saying…
We have been running a variety of polls over the last month or so when you visit one of our category pages. To find these polls go to one of the 5 main category buttons – as shown with the red arrows below. Once you click on one the new page will load and the polls are found on the right side toward the bottom of that page. Today we are going to summarize your answers to some of the poll we put up recently.
First up, we asked “How long should someone prepare for?” So far you have responded with “1 year” as the most popular choice with “3 months” as the second most voted for option.
Next we asked, “What disaster or emergency is your family most concerned about preparing for?” The number one answer has been; “financial crisis” which is almost doubling the next most popular choice which was “fire”. “Earthquake” rounds out the top 3 with “hurricane”, “power outage”, and “terrorist attack” being the next 3 responses.
Then we asked “Would you buy food that was grown in China?” Three out of every four or 75% of people said no. Five percent said they “only would if the prices were significantly better”.
Next we asked “What would you do in a disaster if people in your neighborhood came to your house looking for food and you only had enough for your family?” and the most popular choice with almost 50% was “barter with them for other things you my need” and the next most popular with 34% of the vote was to “share food with them”. The next most popular choice was 14% of the people would “get out your gun and tell them to go away.”
Then we asked “Would you buy freeze-dried jalapeños?” Of the 193 responses, 136 or 70% said to bring the heat!
We also polled “Have you ever tried living on your preparedness supplies?” Of those that responded 63% said they had. The remaining 37% had not.
Next up we asked “On a scale of 1-5 how confident are you in your preparations at your place of employment?” Of the 133 responses the most popular was “very unconfident” by 95 people or 71%. Only 7 people or 5% were “very confident”.
These are just a handful of polls on our site and we are working on making these more accessible so more people will share their opinions. It is fun and enlightening to learn from everyone and this information helps empower all of us to better understand emergency preparedness and for that we thank you and look forward to helping others learn and get prepared.
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The ‘confidence’ part is sad… here is a way to become more confident. Stuff some survival items into a bag and go spend a night in the woods. The next morning you will not only feel ten feet tall, but you will have a good idea what needs to go into that backpack of yours.
August 26th, 2011 at 6:14 pmPreparing for disaster would be a lot easier and available to more peoplle if your prices(and those of your competitors) weren’t so ridiculously high.
August 29th, 2011 at 6:58 amI read an article on solar flares and that they could cause problems (power outages) that could take several months to a year to repair. Affording a whole year of the prepared food required is almost impossible. Perhaps a solution to this problem would set The Ready Store apart from the rest. I don’t know what it could be but maybe a creative mind could come up with something.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:44 amDue to the expense and unavailability of dehydrated foods, I chose to prepare purchasing the basics from my regular grocery store; beans, rice, sugar, etc. I then bought the oxyden absorbing packets and used my seal-a-meal to store my food in an airtight package. The prepared, dehydrated meals are costly, but when considering they are already ready to eat and you just add water, you’re paying for the convenience. My food storage is a mixture fo basics and ready to eat items so I have the choice of spending time cooking or having something ready instantly.
August 29th, 2011 at 7:45 amOn the question about… “What would you do in a disaster if people in your neighborhood came to your house looking for food and you only had enough for your family?”
Come on folks the answer is in the question!!!!
If you only had enough money in your wallet to pay the check for your dinner and someone came up and asked you for money to pay for theirs would you trade his shoes for your money? What good is trading away your money going to do to pay your bill?
Would you offer to give him half your food?
If you only have enough for your family you already probably do not have enough. Ever think of that?
Sow and reap baby…. Tough love is called tough because it is.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:08 amI think that one should have at least 3 days of MREs or freeze dried/dehydrated on hand for the hectic days at the beginning of any disaster. Plan for instability the first week. Tap into your longer prep time supplies only after things settle down a bit.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:21 amI store extra supplies to share with the grasshoppers. Not everyone will be an ant and prepare. There is always a reward for a good deed. I seem to recall a large picnic where thousands were fed with a little bread and fish.
Did anyone else see the freak show that they ran on TLC last night about people “preparing for the Apocalypse”?
Everyone had an agenda (like selling books, plans or products) or they were just total whack-jobs.
Even the first lady (Layton, I think her name was – she was the only really credible one in my view) spent more time showing her survival books for sale than really pushing “the message”.
The same held true for the AZ Family. A lot was said but they made sure to get their Internet plug in…
Shame on TLC. They had an opportunity to show strong American families insuring their own futures by taking some responsibility.
The pair of knuckleheads that talked about canning and eating people were just idiots.
Would YOU eat that crap they canned? Not me.
Instead, they stooped to “Jerry Springer” tactics, to downplay what may be a really bad situation.
WHEN will someone stop sensationalizing this extremely important topic and start dealing with the reality of the situation?
We all KNOW that most prepper and survivalist families aren’t “fringe dwellers”, we’re just families trying to insure the safety of our kids, come what may.
Maybe you guys could help by starting with primers that explain in detail how you will DIE if you can your own meat (and other goods) improperly.
We need a voice of reason, not media sensationalism and fear mongering aimed at simply creating ratings to sell ad space.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:39 amDavid, if you purchase items on sale, which they have many of, their price are no that out of line.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:41 amIf you prepare for an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) event, caused by either a great solar storm or a man-made high altitude attack, I think you will be prepared for almost any event, short of all out nuclear war, an asteroid impact or alien invasion. The EMP commission that Congress set up expected that the grid could be down for 4 to 10 years. Are you prepared to be without electricity for that long? How will you cook food? How will you communicate with friends and family far away? This has been called a “sovereignty ending event,” in which up to 90% of the population of the U.S. would die. Are you prepared for that? Is even a full year of food enough for that situation?
August 29th, 2011 at 9:54 amJohn and David,
One good thing to point out when shopping for food is to compare cost per ounce or lb. It isnt easy cause you have to do the math yourself but I have noticed that some competitors dont put as much food in their cans/buckets. It may look like you are comparing apples to apples sometimes but really you are comparing apples to apple. I found The Ready Store to have just as good pricing as anyone else on the majority of items because they fill the product to the top and I always get free shipping instead of being nickle and dimed for shipping and handling and processing fees.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:56 amFirst of all,survival means a return to pre-industrial times.You won’t simply be returning to say,the 1960s.You are going to be going back to the 1500s.When the “gimme’s” finally bring civilization down,it will be survival on the most basic level.Forget about the freeze-dried stuff.Does anyone think that a collapse in civilization will simply be a minor three day interruption in one’s life?I started learning about “savage living” back in the 1960s.Dry and preserve foods,raise dry land crops,make my own leather,hunt,fish,knap stone for weapons,and most important,find a reliable source of water.Buying survival-in-a can ain’t gonna do it.Buy a good rifle,or a shotgun.Buy a lot of ammo.You will be able to barter a box of .22 rimfire ammo for a lot of things.It’s cheap,especially in 5000 round bricks.This way you can protect yourself and family,provide game,and have trading stock.The greatest asset to a “preppie” or “survivalist” is a fierce mind set.You will need to make up your mind that you will survive AT ALL COSTS.Yes,that means possibly taking someone’s life.If you can’t do that,you may as well lie down,take a deep breath,and die.The main difference that I see between “preppies” and “survivalists” is the length of time they are planning to live.Preps,for a while.Survives,for longer than that.And folks,I do not plan to share what I have worked to put away with someone who spent his extra money on season tickets to the NFL,or a 36″flat-screen TV and a $60,000 hybrid car.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:29 amOne thing to also remember about pricing – whether here or through another store… you can spend a lot less money up front by purchasing items at your grocery store.
BUT… you have to figure out portions, expiration dates, rotation (or food loss), etc. It’s A LOT of work. **OR** you can plunk down a little more money and have it all done for you… well rounded, nutritious food with decades worth of shelf life. Buy once, don’t worry about it for YEARS. If you truly cannot afford to pay the extra money for the “convenience” of not having to worry about it, then you have two options… go without and don’t be prepared, or do the extra work to prepare yourself and your family with grocery store items, and spend less money. Only a very few people truly cannot afford to begin a preparedness plan. (Many people who say they can’t afford it simply have not put preparedness at a higher priority than non-essential spending in their lives.) It might take a little longer for some than others, but every little bit helps. Stay the course, buy what you can, and pray you never need any of it.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:36 amPreparedness is what it is. I live in a home where I cannot stock up because the rest of the household doesn’t care. I was watching a documentary and realized that I am not sure that all of this preparedness is a great idea. Do I really want to set myself up to survive a catastrophic failure of society? For what purpose? What happens after my years supply of TP runs out? What happens when the pool turned fish pond dies from the cosmic radiation the owner set it up to prepare himself against?
Seems futile to me. A pantry is great, stocking up for the apocalypse just seems like a waste. Unfortunately, the apocalypse is just that the end of life as we know it. I don’t care for this life enough to attempt to extend the torture.
August 29th, 2011 at 10:50 amIt doesn’t matter whether or not you are preparing for an emergency situation, natural/man made disaster, unemployment, terrorist or nuclear accident/war, or the grid going down for hours, days or more; being prepared is just plain smart. Being a child of WWll, when food, gas and most everything was rationed, you were hard pressed to get most necessities and if you didn’t grow your own food, stock up on those items that were scarce or can foods, you might be eating peanut butter and crackers for a long time or scrounging for whatever you could find in the cupboard. In those days, you were lucky if the grid DIDN’T go down in a simple rain/wind storm. One had to be prepared for anything just about all the time. There were much less casualties in those days because people were prepared to survive. Today, we are all too dependent on technology which can be fickle at best, and we are too dependent on the government, ARC and other organizations to save us because we haven’t a clue as to how to take care of ourselves and family to survive even minor disasters much less the riots and looting that accompany emergencies or disasters today. So, be a “kook” or fanatic, if that is what they call you now. Because when something happens, those who laughed at you will be whining and gnashing their teeth and begging at your door. The handwriting is on the wall. Only those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will be ready and able to take care of themselves and their families.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:06 amThanks for all the posts! I have been preparing for over a year now, and I am SO GLAD I did before all the stuff became so expensive and out of stock. I think water is a biggie. I get 4 cases a week and have 2 of the 5 gal. meal buckets. also have Mre’s and alot of dehydrated/freeze dried. The big thing people forget is WATER and how you will PREPARE what you have! A fuel source, (we have wood and propane) a cast iron dutch oven, camping supplies, etc. Also stocked up on toilet paper and personal supplies. Spices, oil, salt, etc.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:51 amI think 3 months is a good amount to start with. As for anyone coming to the house, well, that is what guns are for!!! We have been telling people they need to prepare, and yes, they will be the ones knocking on our door….that is why it is important to NOT tell people what you DO have in your neighborhood. I would rather be labeled a fanatic and a kook and be PREPARED, than not!
Terry…. An extreme survival situation would be an Apocalypse. What about a short term melt down of society or a natural disaster. Don’t you think it would be a bit more comfortable for you and your family to have a couple of weeks worth of beanie weenies stuck in the back of a cupboard so you won’t be the ones begging your neighbors for a bite to eat.
August 29th, 2011 at 11:54 amUnless you shop every day for your daily needs, you already prepare somewhat. Most people shop once a week to “prepare” for what they will need that week. If you pick up a couple of extra items each time you are at the store, and just keep a few extra items on hand, it could help a lot and keep your family more comfortable for two, or three weeks. After all, none of us expect to live like kings in an emergency, that isn’t what this is about. It is about keeping our families safe and healthy, hopefully until the danger is past.
No one is forcing anyone to spend any money, or waste any time preparing. Those of us that choose to prepare feel the need to share our concerns with others. Most of us also feel that our hard work and financial planning is for
“our families” not the neighbors that failed to even have an evacuation plan in place, let alone the supplies necessary to survive.
In other words, unless you are one of my elderly neighbors, that I have included in my plan, if you come knocking on my door, I will be the one with the shotgun.
There is a great site… preppergroups.com
There is the place to reach out to work with others. Also the forum which includes groups types. If you are alone you are still a group of one. Others sacrifice and work together creating a more secured location capable of supporting life with no grid or re-supply. That is for many years as the food reproduction becomes safer to do….
Also storing food much like freeze dried. Common sense says safety in numbers but…only if those and all those numbers are well prepared.
August 29th, 2011 at 12:26 pmAs in all ventures worth doing one should have lists. We have a list for each group member in our prepper group which they need to complete 100%.
Unlike some more narrow minded folks we believe balance is key. Variety offers more options under various conditions.
Thus we have everyone add a good amount of freeze dried food to their three minimum store of food goods. We also include canning, drying and smoking foods. Much of our balanced approach in freeze dried came from this company site
We also have the skills to hunt, grow food and raised animals. But we wisely realize that hunting is never a for sure success. In dangerous crash times wandering off to look for game is a good way to have your bed empty after dark…for good. Gardens can also fail….Stored food means a full tummy. A full tummy with long term supplies around you also bring a great sense of accomplishment and hope.
August 29th, 2011 at 2:20 pmI along with many others lost my home in ’02 to Hurricane Andrew. I had 4 1/2 feet of ocean come through my house. (We did evacuate to a safer location so were not in the house at the time; although some stupid people in my neighborhood didn’t listen and stayed in their homes.) We moved a mobile home the insurance company bought to house us in to the front yard and we were without power for 3 months. We had a generator and when it ran dry I held the gun while my husband refueled the generator in the middle of the night. That was 19 years ago and I didn’t know about prepping then, but I do now and strongly believe in it.
August 29th, 2011 at 6:17 pmThat’s 1992 not ’02.
August 29th, 2011 at 6:25 pmFor food and you only had enough for your family?” and the most popular choice with almost 50% was “barter with them for other things you my need” and the next most popular with 34% of the vote was to “share food with them.
The ones who answerd to that 50% are good as dead.Barter with people on your front portch with your food when you only have enough for your family?What are you that dumb?Stay out of sight and board up the doors and windows.Anyone brakes in?Kill them.
The people in the 34% should just take all your food that you worked so hard to save up and put it all on your front portch.Then make a big sign FREE FOOD HELP YOUR SELF!
Once you feed the bad guys they will be back.This time they my not be asking.
The 14% are the ones that stand a chance.I am with that.
August 29th, 2011 at 9:27 pmI bet you didn’t know?The U.S. Government can send the Army door to door and take what ever food or other supplies that they my need,and to use deadly force if you refuse.That could leave you with nothing,and you and your family could starve to death.Or they could just kill you without a care.Please read up on this before you deside to commit sue aside.Read up on Martial law.The U.S. Government can call Martial law with any disaster.Martial law will suspent all U.S. Constitutional rights.The U.S.Military will be fully in charge until Congress,or The President releave them from command.Most of the time they will help us.But if needed they can kill us as well.I am sorry for making this a long read.But you do not know all the facts.If you want to be rounded up,disarmed,and forced out of your home and placed in a camp?You be my guest.
For Dave;
Sadly Sir you are more correct than most humans wish to admit. At least you and I are honest about this.
Few people save their paychecks to truly retire. Fewer people save food. Even fewer people save all the rest to be able to live long enough to even eat said food. Then out of the last few… even less have the plans, ways and means to replace said used food stuffs.
I have been around this arena for sometime now and I am sad to report within the prepper/survivor community only a very few will ever be willing to do it right. Right enough to really survive a long term crisis event. The rest know it but prefer their iphones, games, toys, fancy coffee, vacations and newer vehicles.
All that keeps us from falling apart here in America is our very old and broken down infrastructure system. Our nation is broken, broke and in ever growing debt trying to be all things for all people…..
August 30th, 2011 at 6:31 amFor Dave,
I believe that you are correct in your assessment of what could happen if things were to fall apart. If anyone disbelieves Dave you may want to research what happened during Katrina, Rodney King Riots in LA, and the implosion of the economy in Argentina in the 80’s. Three quick real examples of what could happen if we had a large scale emergency. Now im a good Samaritan and love to help those in need but my family comes first PERIOD. In my opinion keep your preps under the radar (OPSECS). If you live in a large city things could go pear shaped fast and food is only one aspect of survival. Make sure you can protect yourself. Store things up when you have the opportunity. Practice with what you have and learn your gear. Learn the skills your grandparents took for granted. You never know what could happen. Lets all hope we have a bright and wonderful future, but lets be smart and prep. You never know what life can throw at you.
August 30th, 2011 at 10:25 amWell,I see from most of the posts that the “in a can” preppers still don’t quite get it.You need to prepare to survive like they did before 1800! “Stored food means a full tummy”.Sheesh! Suppose you store all of your goodies in your basement? Have a flood.How edible do you think that will be after soaking in an excrement soup for a week? Earthquake? Do you think FEMA is just going to let you rat around as you damn well please looking for your goodies? You want your electronics?Anyone know what a Faraday Cage is,or how to make one,much less how to use one?”We have a community of like-minded people and we will all feed each other.” Yeah,right! Just until,let’s say,one family group either uses or loses all of their provisions,or the extended family of one unit comes looking for help.So the rest of you share.Then one guy,who is still hungry,declares,”Why should we be deprived-they aren’t providing anything?”There goes your little tight-knit community.As for the police,or the military.They ride for the brand,or in other words,have a loyalty to whom ever pays their salary and pension.And IT AIN’T YOU.I have yet to see anyone mention storing heritage seeds,learning hydroponics,making a solar stove,solar distillation.None of that.No one wants to educate themselves,just go out and buy-buy-buy your ready-made life after catastrophe.You need to prepare,stay under the radar,expand your knowledge,and most importantly,KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHAT YOU PLAN!
August 30th, 2011 at 2:25 pmHey Ken,
Let’s ay a group has a semi remote location. Then add in newer tested infrastructure. Then toss in several secure water sources. Add in maybe solar/wind/genset combo? Of course many high end batteries. Make sure they have years and years of seeds…correct seeds. Able to recycle seeds as well. Have elk/deer/bear,geese,ducks, turkeys and more crossing their location up against mountains with no one behind them for hundreds of miles.
Let us say they have fresh fish living on the place.
Let us throw in older hand tools and the means to sharpen and repair them. Do not forget all the more modern tools which will still run for a long time with extra parts stored away. Let us say all things are stored in flood proof building in a region way above floods. Let us say everyone has their own rooms and multiple heating/cooking systems.
Then let us say to be part of this group you must have three years of all things needed to survive with no resupply and or growing or harvesting one thing. Three years to work the bugs out of living the different life if needed. You know it could very well not be needed after awhile.
Let us say fema ain’t nowhere near there and they really do not care about them out on some dead end dirt road.
Let us say a solar oven is sweet but it by no means is the only option. Let us say some people have actually spent the time, money and energy to do it much better than you point out.
Now wouldn’t be nice to know a group like that might even exist?
I would sure hope to run across one someday….
August 30th, 2011 at 5:40 pmIt is interesting seeing these posts by people who usually have the same idea. Buy in the store and buy canned foods. I’ve tried that more than once. It usually ends up in the trash. It is a sheer waste of money and not good for you. Canned (wet) food is very poor nutritionally speaking. It loses vitamin content quickly. I have read that 40% of the nutrients are gone as soon as it is canned and 90% are gone 1 year later. Dried food can maintain 99% of vitamin content for years. It can also be eaten by vermin. This is not likely in the type of food this site sells. Boxes of dried store food are a moth trap and mouse attractant.
If your food is not stored for long term use, you are just wasting your money and fooling yourself. The only way to buy in bulk yourselr and hope to make it last is to put it in mylar bags, sealed, with oxygen absorbers. Then put the bags where they are safe from vermin (if possible). Plan to use that first. The professionally canned dried items will still last longer.
I have lived using storable food for over 6 months in a remote foreign location before, and believe me, freeze dried food is a real blessing even if you only have enough for occasional use. Raising food is a good idea, but crops fail and not all soil can grow a good crop. Allow time to fail when you are preparing. Look at history. Even when people had the skills which most do not possess now, people had famines and people starved TO DEATH.
Also, having food to share is not stupid. It is a must. That doesn’t mean tapping into your own supplies or that the sharing food has to be of the same quality. In my experience, people around us were hungry and grateful for the help. None of them knew what we did or did not have, however. Our own garden failed most miserably. Water was a definite issue because we were in a drought. Sharing was the only way to survive and was part of the culture, but we still had to get our water at night to protect the supply.
August 31st, 2011 at 2:13 pmWell Rancher,I surely do hope that your dream does come true.I surely do.You say having “more modern tools that run for a long time.”Generator sets,a home where the buffalo roam and the deer and the antelope play with fishes jumping and comfortable rooms of your own.Spare parts,cadres of warrior-hunters,etc.How long do you plan to exist? Oh,that’s right.Three years.What about replacement parts,batteries,clothing,etc.? When the SHTF there will no longer be replacement anything.I hope you have the wherewithal to purchase all of that high-buck survival technology and prepared foods,and the land that you can call your own that backed up to a mountain that no one could cross in a hundred years,because you and your group will surely become the kings of your new domain.Sadly most of the folks out here in the real world are hard pressed to survive in good times and are not able to afford to make those expensive preparations.They will have nothing but their wits and knowledge to fall back upon.But remember,there will be the new Mongols,Huns,and Tartars.And Hannibal crossed the Alps with elephants!And in case anyone out there thinks that I’m just talking through my hat,the Japanese took our city on my second birthday.We ate my dog that year.Today I still can not abide the smell of margarine because the #10 cans of the stuff came with what looked white grease with a pool of red oil on the top.You mixed it to get margarine.When we could steal a can of it,you ate it on everything.My mother would grind bone and egg shells into powder and mix it with lime juice.I drank that to get calcium.I could go on and on,but I would just be whistling into the wind.Best of luck to all of you.I’m old now,so I won’t have to store too much.
September 1st, 2011 at 12:06 pmThe place is real…. I own it ;-0
The plans and ability to gradually go back into time and previous ways of doing things is being put in place monthly.
It is turn key as of today but it also never ceases to improve. You comments help to stay on focus. But just because you went thru something does not mean everyone else will do the same. But on the safe side we have several dogs….
September 1st, 2011 at 6:10 pm